Super Sweet 6teen Continued
by mrastounding
Summary: Starts where Dracowolf316 ended (chapter 5); 6 teens have gained unnatural gifts after a freak accident; together, alongside new allies, they use them to fight for truth and justice, all while trying to avoid job loss. Nikki/Jonesy; Jen/Batman figure (not an OC); other pairings being debated
1. Chapter 1: Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter shows that not everyone involved in the accident will be the gang's rival, but exactly who is their new ally?

Coming of a new ally

"Okay, our first priority will be to free Catlin from Chrissy's control, as well as Nikki and Jude, if they themselves are being controlled, that is," Wyatt declared, once the situation was explained to him. "Yeah, just one problem: how do we do that without falling under her control as well?" Jen asked. "I can answer that," stated a new voice from outside the huddle they were in. Turning around with a cringe, they saw a strange male figure wearing the following: a brown ski mask that was modified to look like an owl's face and had the mouth and chin exposed, a white utility belt, a black jumpsuit with what looked like wiring underneath, as well as various gadgets that did who knows what, and a black serrated cape on his back.

"Who are you supposed to be and how did you get into the security room?" Jonesy asked. "Relax; I'm on your side. My name is unimportant, but you can call me Night Owl. Oh, and next time, lock the door." After slapping his forehead, Jonesy asked, "What do you mean that you're on our side?" "I was at the accident you caused by while carrying books on detective skills, ninjistu, and engineering. As a result, my deductive reasoning skills are on par with that of Sherlock Holmes, my fighting skills are above and beyond that of most opponents, and I can manufacture just about anything. Long story short, I've known about you're powers, and everything related to them, from the moment I saw you during Darth's attack; I actually would have helped you out with him, but I was still getting my gear together. Don't bother trying to remember who I am, though: I was coming out of the bathroom when the explosion happened, and your attention was elsewhere," the masked teenager explained.

"Back on topic: Chrissy won't be able to control you so long as you're wearing those devices that you designed, Wyatt. I figured out that as long as the technology is emitting your costumes, if she tries anything with her telepathy on you, all she'll get is a headache," the figure stated, before stating, "Don't worry about me: my mask has a layer of lead built into it, so she won't be able to use her powers on me even if she tried, not that it matters that much." "What do you mean?" Wyatt demanded, to which Night Owl replied, "I can't help you out just yet: I'm currently working on some things that should take care of two of our three foes. In case you're wondering why I'm not interested in neutralizing all three, the fact is, I am, but I have a pretty good idea on which one will be easiest to take down."

"Hold up: why are you helping us?" Jen wondered, to which he replied, "I have my reasons, among them proving to someone I care about that she doesn't know me as well as she thinks she does, assuming she finds out who I am. However, my main reason is that I made a promise when I was younger, and I intend to keep it, now that I have the means to do it." Briefly turning around, the Penalty Box employee asked what they were all thinking: "How do we know we can trust you?" to which he replied, "You don't, but the only thing I hate more than people who pick favorites are those who prey on the weak."

At this, they turned around, only to see his cape go out the door. "We'll let him go for now; right now, we have to find the others before who knows what happens," Jonesy stated as he and Wyatt ran out the door. Before she left, though, Jen began asking herself why she felt that this "Night Owl" seemed familiar.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Nikki had managed to sneak herself back into the Khaki Barn. She had quickly figured out that as long as Chrissy wasn't talking to her that she didn't have control of her, but that wasn't what was bothering her at the moment. No, what was bothering her is that she couldn't seem to get Catlin's attention without drawing some herself. Just as she was about to try something, however, she noticed Jude walk into the store. At that moment, she mentally kicking herself, as she realized that the others had sent him here to stop her from doing something stupid, which might actually be possible, even with her current invisibility. Rushing out of the store and grabbing him before anyone else noticed him, Nikki pulled Jude behind a pillar and came back into invisibility before whisper-yelling, "What are you doing?" "Trying to stop you from getting yourself caught!" he yelled back in the same hushed manner.<p>

* * *

><p>"Did you hear something?" one of the hypnotized customers asked. "Not sure, but either way, let's get out of here," another stated. At this, Chrissy approached him and demanded to know why he wasn't buying anything, to which he replied, "You do have a great deal going on right now, but your running low on merchandise: why stay here when there are other stores that still have their shelves stocked." At this, Chrissy stopped and began to think. While she hated to admit it, this guy had a point: with or without her powers, she couldn't keep this scheme of hers going if she didn't have anything to sell. Sure, they still had the snow cone thing Kirsten was doing, but even that would be useless if they didn't have supplies. Too bad shipments weren't going to be available for another two days.<p>

Suddenly, an idea struck. With a smirk, she mentally commanded all the customers to leave and went over to her two partners in crime.

* * *

><p>"Well, we still need to get Catlin out of...what is going on?" Nikki exclaimed. Neither of them could believe it: the customers were leaving! While they were glad this was the case, it didn't make any sense: from what Nikki understood, this shouldn't be happening. Before they could figure out what was going on, however, Catlin walked past them.<p>

Taking a chance, Nikki snuck up behind her and hit her on the head. "Hey, what was that for? Wait, where am I?" Catlin exclaimed, her eyes returning to their normal color. "How about a 'thank you' for freeing you from Chrissy's mind control?" Nikki retorted as she pulled her friend over to their hiding place. "Is that what happened? I don't remember that much after delivering your coffee," Catlin remarked.

"Quiet! Those girls are saying something!" Jude exclaimed.

* * *

><p>"What's going on? I thought the plan was working?" Kristen exclaimed. "It is, but one of our customers gave me an idea: why should we settle for this mediocre lifestyle when, with our powers, the whole mall, maybe even the world, could be ours?" Chrissy said with a grin. "What's wrong with how things are now?" Kirsten asked, to which her economic superior replied, "You mean besides the fact that our so-called bosses won't be delivering the much-needed merchandise until our next pay day? Just so you know, we'll still be working here in the store, but we won't be taking orders from anyone else anymore! Not even those mystery heroes who defeated Darth can stop us!"<p>

* * *

><p>Unaware to the Khaki Barn employees, their whole plan had been overheard by three of the "mystery heroes" they were talking about. "We'd better get to the others before things get out of hand," Nikki exclaimed. "I just hope that they have a way to keep me from losing my mind again," Catlin stated. "Dudettes, I was sorta thinking the same things," Jude replied before the gang sprinted off towards the security center, unaware that they were not the only ones who overheard Chrissy's plan.<p>

* * *

><p>After explaining to the others what happened and getting into their disguises, Catlin asked, "You sure our headsets are the only things we need to keep our grey mat ears, Wyatt?" "It's pronounced 'grey matter,' and although I'm not positive, if things go south, we can always keep using cognitive recalibration," Wyatt explained, to which Jude groaned and said," Dude, not all of us know brain speak." "It means that we hit each other on the head like Nikki did to Catlin earlier," Jonesy explained, at which point he notices everyone staring at him. "What? I don't sleep through every psychology class lecture!" he exclaimed.<p>

"Whatever; let's just go stop those three and hope the Bird shows up," Jen stated. "Who's the Bird?" Nikki asked, to which Wyatt simply stated, "Don't worry; we'll tell you later."

* * *

><p>Figuring that their best bet of finding the Clones was to look in the last place they saw them, 6teen headed towards the Khaki Barn. They were just passing the food court when the loud speakers crackled to life.<p>

"Attention, shoppers: we have an announcement. As of today, the Khaki Barn is no more!" a semi-distorted voice stated. As the people shopping starting murmuring to themselves about what that could possibly mean, the teen heroes realized that the Clones had managed to link the PA system of the Khaki Barn with that of the mall itself!

The voice continued as they ran through the hallways, all the while noticing that some of the shoppers were already showing signs of being controled: "Today, we introduce to you its replacement: the Khaki Club! The location will be the mall itself, with its headquarters being the location the Khaki Barn would be normally. How do I become a member, you ask? It's simple, really: bring any valuables you can find to our headquarters and give a thousand dollar membership fee. Everyone who joins will get a snow cone for three-hundred dollars paid up front and gets to pay double for every item they purchase. Thank you and have a nice day."

Once they finally got to the store, their worst fears were realized: just about everyone in the mall was under Chrissy's control and there were over fifty "Kristens" getting closer to them. At that moment, the PA system crackled to life again. "It seems we have a few people who don't want to partake in our generous deals. Fortunately, those who don't join our club get another option: total annihilation!"

* * *

><p>"How did we get into this mess? Nikki shouted. "Anyone else getting a strange case of déjà vu?" asked Jonesy, but his question was ignored.<p>

It seemed hopeless: true, Chrissy's powers had no affect on their team, but it seemed that they would need a miracle to get them out of this jam.

"Any last words, you fools?" the telepath taunted. "Yeah: do you hear humming?" Jen asked. In fact, it was true: the PA system had come to life again, but this time, something was different: instead of words or even music, a low hum was coming out of the speakers. The teen heroes were confused at first, until a certain someone started crying out in agony.

"Sorry I'm late: had a little trouble finding the right signature," stated a figure from the shadows. "Whoever you are, turn that off: I'm having trouble focusing!" Chrissy demanded. "Exactly," said the same figure, now right behind her.

Before she could react, though, she felt a surge of electricity course through her body. The moment it happened, she found herself on the ground looking up at what she thought might be a demon from hell. "That's enough, Ron: the thing I gave you did its job," the masked figure said into a com-link, at which point the humming stopped.

"Get him," the head Clone demanded before passing out. At this, the "Kristens" surrounded him. While the teenaged heroes and the now free shoppers panicked, the masked man stood firm. "I hope you realize that if I take down the original, the others go as well," he said with determination, to which the copies all replied, "Too bad you don't know which one of us it is, freak."

As if on cue, he threw some orbs at the one of the clones, which exploded and released a dark cloud. "Please: you can't fool us with a smoke screen," one of the clones stated, before noticing the figure had another mask on over his mouth. "That wasn't smoke," he stated as one of the "Kristens" began to cough, "It was knock-out gas. Oh, and for future reference, don't try and fool someone who has Infrared sensors in his mask."

As the clones disappeared and the real Kristen lost conciseness, the team, minus Jude and Jonesy, who was helping his friend out of the ice, started to surround Kirsten. "Any chance I can offer you a snow cone?" she asked with a nervous laugh, to which Nikki simply replied, "No thanks: I prefer punch," at which point, she gave her rival a black eye.

* * *

><p>Later that day, the group was meeting up in the back room of one of the stores that somehow had not been broken into with the reason they won. "So, Night Owl," Nikki began, "not that I'm complaining or anything, but how did you know that low hum would stop Chrissy's mind control? Also, how did you convince Ron to play it over the PA system?" "The frequency of the hum was on the opposite end of a high pitched one that would have done the same thing, which I couldn't use if I didn't want to disorient your friend with the love of string; no offense," the masked figure stated, to which Catlin replied, "None taken." "As for the thing with Ron, let's just say," he said as he pulled off his mask, "he was helping someone he knew." To say the group was shocked at this revelation was an understatement.<p>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in a specially designed juvenile detention center, the Clones were all flustered. Kirsten was under a heat lamp while holding a hand to her eye, all the while murmuring about how she knew this was a bad idea. Kristen had special cuffs on that shocked her every time she tried duplicating trying to figure out how to work out the apparent kinks in her powers. Then there was Chrissy, who was placed in a stasis field. Not that it mattered: the only thought in her head at the moment was "Who was that guy?"<p>

A/N: Next chapter, we find out what 6teen already knows: Night Owl's true identity.


	2. Chapter 2: Chapter 7

A/N: If you've been pulling your hair out trying to figure out the name I made up for Night Owl, you might want to get a dose of reality (and maybe some hair care products): if it can be done, I'm going to be giving powers to people who are already characters of the show! Anyways, all will become clear in a moment.

Dark Memories of a Champion of Light

The gang was conversing with themselves in the food court when a certain someone walked up to them. He immediately sensed that they all were tense around him, though it was Jen was the one who seemed the most upset. "I'm not talking to you, Charles," she practically growled, to which her former flame replied, "Then listen, Jennifer: everything I said yesterday was the truth, especially the part about me not appreciating our boss playing favorites." "Funny: I didn't know Night Owl worked for Coach Halder," Jen spat out, to which her ex replied, "Well, Charlie Dobbs couldn't exactly say no to his foster father!"

"Wait, what?" Catlin exclaimed, while Jonesy did a spit take on a random girl that was passing by. "Smooth," Nikki stated as the girl stormed off, to which her boyfriend declared, "I know: I overheard her talking earlier about asking me out in front of you! Oh, and by the way, what's this about you kissing Darth?" "I was trying to get the DVD for Jude, okay?" Nikki exclaimed, before sighing and saying, "Look: how about you forgive me for that and I'll forgive you for nearly getting us killed." "Deal, and maybe later you can make out with someone who's actually worth the lip service," Jonesy said seductively, to which Nikki smirked and whispered, "I like the way you think."

"Ignoring that," Jude began, before stating, "I'm confused: yesterday, you implied that Ron knew about you." "He does," Charlie began, "Could any of you lie to a friend of your family? Before you say anything, Jonesy, I'm talking about my REAL family: the one that's long gone now." "If it's anything like your current family, you'd probably more spoiled then you are already," Jen snapped.

"Enough!" Charlie demanded, to which Jen flinched a little, before Night Owl's true face continued, "Like I told you yesterday, you don't know me as well as you think you do. Before you say anything, though, without my experiences as Charlie Dobbs, I would never have become Night Owl, and I DO care about you, even though it's clear that your anger and jealousy extinguishes any kindness you might feel towards people."

"Alright, then tell me something: if you care about me so much and hate favoritism as much as you say you do, why don't you ever say anything when Coach Halder, or rather, your dad, punishes me for something I didn't do or when he rewards you for something I did?" Jen demanded, to which Charlie replied, "I've tried, but when I do, you always run off before he can apologize and/or offer you a pay raise." "Okay, fine: I guess I jumped the gun a little, but that doesn't give you the right to accuse me of being heartless!" she retorted, to which her co-worker stated, "I didn't: it's just that the way you're acting because of something as ridiculous as unwanted, and perhaps unintended, favoritism is remarkably similar to that of the man who ruined my life."

"Wait: you REALLY had a problem with being in the spotlight? If so, why draw attention to yourself by dressing like a bird? I mean, this guy didn't do anything too bad, right?" Wyatt stated, with Jen's face saying the same thing. Charlie simply replied, "Actually, he did."

Flashback (10 years ago, in the park: 9:46 P.M.)

"For the last time, I am not interested in your project: you can't bring peace by spreading panic," a man stated over the phone, "Well, don't bother: even if I wasn't around, my board members share my views on this matter, so I suggest you either stop trying to deceive me or find someone else to do your dirty work. Our discussion is over." With that, he hung up.

"I don't know how he got my cell number, dear," the man stated, to which his wife replied, "I'm surprised he managed to talk to you at all, with the lack of coverage in the area and all." "Daddy, thanks again for taking me to see that play," a young boy stated, to which his father replied, "Your welcome, son; I actually have something for you." Bending down, the man gave the boy a small whistle and stated, "Whenever you're alone at night during that camping trip next week, I want you to give that a blow or two: I promise that when you do, nature's wisest creature will answer."

"It's getting late, honey: the park will be closing soon," the women stated, to which her husband stated, "Let's take this path here: it should get us to our car faster." As they were walking down the path, however, a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Hello, Deborah," the figure stated as he pulled out a gun and stepped closer to the women, "I've been meaning to talk to your husband."

"Leave her alone," the father stated as he stepped in front of her, only to be shot in the chest. "Oh no: Robert!" the mother screamed, only for the figure to shout, "Shut up," and shot her as well. The boy, hoping against hope that the wise creature his dad told him about could help, blew into the whistle.

"Tell your folks when you see them that their serpent friend sends his regards," the figure stated as he turned his gun on him, only to be distracted by a large creature swoop down in front of their shared line of sight: a Great Horned Owl. As if on cue, sirens began to blare in the distance and what sounded like barking could be heard.

"Shoot: someone must have called the cops!" the figure stated. Firing the gun again, he ran into the woods. This time, however, he missed his intended target. As the police showed up, one of them immediately ran over to the boy. "It's going to be alright, son: we're here now."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, he was back at the police station. The officer from before came up to him and stated, "I know this is an emotionally draining experience, but I'm going to need to ask you a few questions if we're ever going to catch who did this. Is that alright?" The boy sniffled a little before nodding. "Just to make you a bit more comfortable, maybe we should start with introductions: my name is Officer Ronald Dennison." "Officer, do you really think you can catch who did this?" the boy asked, to which he sighed and replied, "I can't say anything for certain, since I'm retiring from this line of work in a few days, but I assure you that this is being handled by the best men that are available; um, I never caught your name." The boy replied, "My name is Charlie Dobbs."<p>

(End Flashback)

"My parents died trying to stop an unspeakable evil from taking place; I swore that night that it wouldn't be in vain," Charlie stated. The gang was gob smacked, especially Jen, who couldn't believe it: all this time, her former love interest…no, she still loved him, but her anger and jealousy forced her to forget how happy he had made her when they were together, as well as making her not see how much pain her love was in.

Finally, Wyatt broke the silence: "Did they ever catch who did it?" "The police are assuming he's dead, since the tracks he left behind led to a polluted section of river and the body was never found, but something tells me he's still out there," the apparent vigilante stated.

With a sigh, Charlie continued, "The reason that I'm currently working at the Penalty Box, other then because my foster father asked me to, is that I don't have full access to my parent's company until I'm 21 and I needed the extra cash, since most of the resources which I do have access to have gone into planning my double life." "Why didn't you just go out and do it?" Nikki asked, to which he replied, "Up until I turned 16, I wasn't allowed to borrow anything from Dobb's Diversity, so the most I could do was plan out my equipment and design my costume. Even then, I didn't have the actual skills until the accident happened, simply because I didn't want anyone I didn't trust to know about my other life." "Dobbs Diversity?" Jonesy asked, "Isn't that the company that's helped out with the war effort since WWI?" "Only in terms of recycling, restoring, and repairing the equipment, though they do have some pet projects of their own," Charlie stated, before continuing with, "Ron actually knew my father during his service days: they didn't always see eye to eye, but did know each other well enough that he eventually recognized the son of an old friend."

"So, he helped you out yesterday because your dad?" Jen stated, having figured it out. "Yeah: besides my foster father, who was friends with my mom in high school, and you guys, he's the only one I've trusted to keep my secret so far," Charlie confirmed. "Guess we have to change our group name then," Catlin said with a sigh, to which Charlie replied, "No, you don't: I know I'm not fully accepted by your team yet, but even if I was, I wouldn't be an official part of your team."

"Why not?" Jen asked, sounding a little hurt, to which he replied, "I'm a creature of the shadows who's simply trying to show people the light, something of which you guys seem to already be aware of. If you ever need help though, and something tells me you will, I'll be in touch."

With that, Jen tried to say something to her co-worker, only to notice he was long gone. "Something tells me we're going to have to get used to that," Jude remarked. As the others agreed, Jen kept thinking to herself, "I'm sorry, Charles."

A/N: Sorry for the lack of any fight scenes, but I figured that they'd be a little out of place here. Anyways, next time there will be a little bit more action, but for now, let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3: Chapter 8

A/N: An anonymous reviewer asked when the Hulk-type OC I mentioned will show up, so let me answer by saying "right after I finish reintroducing Starr," which happens to start out here, along with another dynamic of the story: the presence of a few non-super powered criminals. Anyways, enjoy.

Terror on a Starry Night

A woman in a suit was watching some screens in his office, all of which displayed scenes from the incident at the mall a few days back. Though she showed moderate interest in the six super-powered teens, her main focus was the figure dressed like an owl. "So, it's official: Dobbs Diversity is still up and running. To think, my former gag store owner of an associate should have taken care of that problem ten years ago with the little incident on the Devil's Trail, as it's now called," the woman stated, to which someone else stated, "To be fair, he failed to eliminate ALL of the planned targets." "Yes, I know. Still, a child shouldn't be too much to get rid of. Maybe THAT is why little Charles saw fit to appoint some extra security at his usual destinations by outfitting at least one of them with some of his family resources," the woman stated. "Um, not to patronize you, but how can you be sure that Night Owl and Charles aren't the same person? I mean, my nephew used to know him and told me of his fear of someone sharing his fate. That alone would be reason to have himself do what some hired hand could easily mess up," the employee stated, to which his boss stated, "That may be true, but I know some things about the boy myself, one of them being that he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag, so that theory can be overlooked for now."

"Very well: do you want me to fetch your associate?" the man stated, to which the first man responded, "As much as I want to say 'yes,' I must hold my tongue for now if I want to squeeze the life out of the only family that truly succeeded in destroying my own in the past. No: I think you need to teach these heroes a lesson." "Very well, Ms. Telega: it's time for these so-called heroes to face TRUE fear," the man responded. As he left, the woman sighed and stated, "When are my associates going to understand that their free to call me Python when we're alone?"

* * *

><p>The next day, the gang had begun conversing amongst themselves about something very important to their double lives. "So, what were we talking about again?" Jonsey asked, to which Nikki replied, "The only thing keeping me from slapping you for not paying attention is the fact that I don't want to mess up that cute face of yours." "Dude, we were talking about our codenames," Jude replied, to which Jen stated, "Do you want everyone to know that we're superheroes?" Wyatt then said, "Catlin and I have already come up with some good ones while you guys were arguing." Catlin then handed out a list to see what the others thought: they all liked them.<p>

"So, what are you guys calling yourselves?" stated a figure from the shadows. "Dude: enough with the ninja skills!" Jonsey exclaimed, to which Charlie replied, "I can't stop my skills anymore then you can stop setting things on fire. Besides, I needed to those skills to get someone here for another one of your headsets without drawing too much attention. "Well, where is he?" Wyatt asked, to which the vigilante replied, "SHE is still in the Janitor's closet where I left her."

* * *

><p>As they got near the closet, Charlie turned to them and said, "Before we proceed, I have to warn you: she happened to be holding a book on Gargoyles at the time our lives were forever changed." "So, does that mean that…?" Catlin began, before a voice inside stated, "That's exactly what it means." With that, the door opened.<p>

What stepped out was the most bizarre thing the group had ever seen: a girl with scaly skin, claws, and what appeared to be batwings emerging from her back. "Well, look on the bright side, Starr: you didn't end up with too much of a 'tail' to tell," Charlie joked, to which Nebula replied, "Shut up, Dobbs."

* * *

><p>"So, explain it to me again: WHY don't we just try to cure ourselves?" the current goth asked. "I'm sure we can ALL agree on three reasons," Charles stated, "First: we don't know what that compound involved in our accident was, so we wouldn't know how to reverse it's effects, assuming they can be reversed; second: we don't know how many others were affected by the accident, and even if we did, experience has told us that not all of them will be interested in being cured; third and most important: even if we didn't have to worry about super powered criminals, there might be other criminals out there who are just as dangerous, and truthfully, the average mall cop andor police officer might not be able to stand up them, but we can."

Choosing her words carefully, Jen stated, "Um, not to be critical or anything, but how are we supposed to know when such criminals are active?" "You know, she has a point, Dobbs," Nebula began, "After all, if we show up every time a crime happens, not only do we risk the public thinking we ourselves were involved, but they might start relying on us too much." "Both of you have actually raised a good point, but I believe we will know when to act once the situation arises," the teen hero remarked. "How will we know when that happens?" Catlin asked.

As if on cue, the gang started to hear explosions go off in the direction of the now roped-off Khaki Barn, followed by some panicked screams. "Does that answer your question?" Wyatt retorted.

* * *

><p>As the gang got closer to their destination, they began to reflect the panic going on around them. Strange thing was, the crowd around them seemed to be fearful, but not because of the attack. In fact, it almost seemed like the mall patrons barely even noticed the cloaked figure throwing bombs in several directions. However, the figure in question took notice of them the moment they arrived.<p>

"Well, if it isn't the teenage heroes I've been hearing about," the figure mused. "Wow, this guy already knows about us," Jonsey remarked. "Dude, that isn't a good thing," Jude commented, to Jonsey replied with, "I know: I was just afraid that we'd have to wait a lot longer for people to recognize us."

"If that's true, you really don't know what it means to be afraid," the guy in the cloak remarked, "but you will soon enough." At that moment, he tossed several bombs in the direction of the team. Jonsey was quick to act, throwing a fireball at each of the bombs and destroying them. However, this caused a weird smoke to surround the team.

"Thanks for the help," the man stated, "Even though it won't matter in a moment, allow me to explain the situation a little: those bombs you destroyed had a built in emission system that ordinarily releases a special gas of my own design once exposed to the fire produced by the incendiary components. Since you took the liberty of making my job easier, I'll return the favor by making sure you receive adequate therapy. After all, not too many go without it once they experience the Night Terror."

As the gas took effect, the members of 6teen soon began to realize why the crowd around them looked so terrified: the gas seemed to bring fears to life. How else could they explain what they were seeing? With Jonsey, it was an image of his future self without any paying job and/or any companionship; for Nikki, it was ending up just like the Clones; meanwhile, Wyatt was seeing his music sheets being used for roasting marshmallows and Jude kept hearing Catlin's voice saying that she didn't want to be part of the group anymore; speaking of which, she was having a pack of rapid dogs chase her while wearing a mail carrier's uniform, while Jen was facing the possibility that Charlie may never forgive her for what she had done.

* * *

><p>"This is terrible: we have to do something," Nebula stated. "I know, but first," Night Owl stated as he took out a syringe. "Wait, what are you doing?" she began, to which her companion stated, "I always figured that whatever company my father turned down might go through with their fear gas plan anyways, so I decided to look into the possibility of finding an antidote should this sort of thing ever happened. This inoculation I'm giving you will temporarily prevent his toxin from affecting you, meaning you should be able to deal with that guy without too much trouble, assuming I got the concentration correct. However, with all things considered, between this and your unique condition, you'll be fairly immune to his gas."<p>

"Okay, but what about you?" Nebula asked, still a little nervous. "I have to administer the antidote to our friends, as well as the infected civilians, before it's too late," he stated, "After all, if they don't calm down soon, they could go into cardiac arrest. Oh, and don't worry: I can handle our friends."

"Are you nuts? Curing them won't be easy, especially given that I doubt they're able to tell friend from foe" the girl asked, to which he replied, "Oh, I know that, but ever since I found out about their powers, I've been working on ways around them should I ever have to face someone who either shares or mimics them: I might not technically have any real powers, but that just makes me all the more dangerous."

"I'll ask you about that later," Nebula remarked, "But I feel I should let you know that I'm not too fond of needles." "Would you rather face that guy without a trump card?" her friend asked, "Besides, my mom was a doctor in life and told me how its wise distract someone when giving someone an injection, meaning that while you were busying trying to stall me, I already gave it to you." "Oh," Starr stated while blushing a little bit.

* * *

><p>"Who would think that a bunch of super heroes would be defeated so easily by a mere mortal?" Night Terror remarked, "None can stop me!" "You sure about that?" stated a figure from the shadows, to which the man smirked. "Ah, the one my boss was worried about," he began, "Have you come to challenge your better?" "As much as I would love to make you eat your words, my attention is needed elsewhere," Night Owl stated, "In the meantime, I'm sure my friend will be more than a match for you."<p>

"Oh, please: if you're trying to scare me, it won't work," the cloaked figure said with a smirk, "Nothing scares me!" "Are you sure about that?" came a question from above him. Reacting on instinct, the man took out a gun from his coat and fired. Unfortunately for him, the flying figure avoided the bullet and knocked him to the ground. "What's the matter? Don't tell me you've never seen a Gargoyle Girl before?" his opponent mocked.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Night Owl was making his way through the mall, looking and listening for his friends. He'd already given Ron enough of the antidote to cure the non-supers: one shot from an air pistol or medical team would be all it would take to cure them. However, he had given special instructions to leave 6teen to him.<p>

So far, he had managed to cure Nikki, Catlin, and Wyatt with minimal difficulty: Nikki's heat signature gave away her position and the only reassurance she needed was to be reminded that even when she was tricked into acting like her former boss, she was never anything like the people they had recently put away; Catlin's sensitive ears were her downfall, and just needed to be convinced that even highly trained attack dogs had as much to worry about when it came to alley cats; meanwhile, it seemed that Wyatt could use his telekinesis to intercept any direct attack, so Nikki helped out by sneaking up behind him and knocking him to the floor.

After a quick pep talk, in which it was explained to Wyatt that even Back and Beethoven had their critics, it was agreed upon that they would split up: Wyatt would go help Starr fight Night Terror, while the others would try to help out their friends. Since they had a pretty good idea about what fears the others were experiencing, it was decided that Nikki would go help Jonsey, Catlin would calm Jude down, and Charles would go cure Jen.

* * *

><p>A few minutes after the group parted, Charles' com-link came to life. Apparently, Wyatt had reported to Ron that Starr had subdued Night Terror. What was more, Nikki and Catlin were able to get through to their respective teammates. All that was left to do before rounding up the victims was to track Jen down.<p>

Despite this good news, the head of Dobbs Diversity was starting to get nervous. After all, with his new skills, he had not only deduced that his ex-girlfriend was beginning to have her feelings resurface, but she was beating herself up about what she had done to him. He also knew that the toxin had a way of twisting your fears, so it was possible that simply administering the cure might cause some unforeseen after-effects. It would be risky, but he would have to try to talk her down BEFORE giving her the cure.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Charles found himself knocked off his feet and slammed into a wall. As he attempted to recover, he found him face to face with his fellow Penalty Box employee, who was looking more than a bit mad. "Hello, darling," she spat out.

"Jen, what are you doing?" the vigilante tried, which the speedster responded to with a hallow laugh. "Oh, just eliminating you like you planned to do to us," was her simple reply. "What are you talking about?" Charles demanded.

"Don't give me the innocent routine: while I attempted to calm myself, I overheard you talking with Nebula and couldn't help but notice that you were making kill switches for us," Jen exclaimed, making the normally brave teenager a bit nervous. Collecting himself, he stated, "You're only half-right: I do have contingency plans made out for you guys, but none of them are meant to kill anyone. In fact, they all are meant as a failsafe in case any of you went over to the other side or succumb to mind control of some sort and none of them do any permanent damage." "Then how come you didn't make yourself a failsafe?" Jen demanded.

"I'm fairly certain this is the fear toxin talking; how else do I explain how blind you're acting?" Charles exclaimed, now getting a little irritated himself. "What is that supposed to mean?" his ex demanded, getting a bit impatient. "The plan for stopping myself is YOU, Jennifer!" Night Owl stated, not noticing that Starr and the other members of 6teen had arrived at the scene.

As Nikki invisibly administered Jen's cure, Charles continued to rant. "No matter how much you hurt me in the past, I couldn't bring myself to hate you. If I ever TRULY went over to the dark side, I know deep down you are the only person I wouldn't be able to hurt: you remind me too much of my little sister, and I could never hurt her. The ONLY reason I can't trust her with this responsibility is that she died of cancer a year or so before my parents were killed. Shortly before she died, she made my family promise her that, after she left the hospital, we'd go camping at the Grand Canyon on her birthday. Of course, it supposed to be a FAMILY campout, meaning that we couldn't bring anyone who wasn't part of the family fortune along and that more than one person was required. So far, I've yet to keep that promise and I know full well that if I hurt you, the one person who has made me truly feel as happy as I did when my parents were alive, that promise will NEVER be kept, because one of the rules of being part of my family is that once you've taken a life, you're life with the company is finished. For me, it goes deeper: if I physically hurt the people who give my life meaning, Dobb's Diversity is finished, because my family might own a company that works for the military, but they worked their whole lives trying to promote peace, along with the ideals of truth and justice. If you don't get that, then you're NOT the woman I feel in love with!"

Needless to say, everyone was awestruck. Jen, however, was near her breaking point: she already felt guilty from her misunderstanding at work, but now she was heartbroken. All this time, he trusted her with his very soul, and she took it for granted. True, some of that was the fear toxin that trench coat guy dosed her with, but she wasn't sure if ALL that stuff she said and did was the work of whatever was in that gas. "I don't deserve you," she said.

"I know you're seeking forgiveness," Charlie stated, as he lifted her chin to look into her eyes, "Just so you know, you've always had it." Jen smiled a little as tears trickled down her cheeks. Moments later, their lips touched.

* * *

><p>"You're telling me there's another one?" the women in the suit exclaimed. "Yes, and we don't know how many others are out there," her associate said over the phone. Sighing, Python stated, "Don't worry: we'll be ready for them. In the meantime, we'll keep our distance until we know exactly what we're dealing with." "Does that mean that the plan will proceed as scheduled?" Night Terror asked. "Once the proper arrangements are made, and we're sure of what to expect, we'll be able to squeeze the life out of any who oppose us. However, I won't be able to secure your release for a while: I have a few appointments to keep."<p>

A/N: There you have it: the first "normal" villains. Next time, not only will we be seeing something "incredible," but an old foe will return. Until then, you can help me out by suggesting what Charlie's sister should be called (as she might be making a cameo later on). Thanks in advance.


	4. Chapter 4: Chapter 9

A/N: Here it is: the moment you've all been waiting for. I won't waste time with the intros, though: I'm sure you all are waiting for the good stuff, so I'll give it to you right away.

Padawan Rage

"I feel I should warn you: even with all the necessary precautions, this kid is dangerous," stated a man over the phone. "Oh, don't worry: I'm prepared for anything," replied one Eva Talega, "but I'll contact you if the need arises. Have a good day." Once the phone was hung up, she turned to the boy in the room with her. "Why don't we get started, young Jedi?" she stated.

"What do you want?" replied Darth with a scowl on his face. "I figured you'd be suspicious, seeing as you managed to absorb some knowledge from one of my guards before I tasered you," Python replied, before stating, "However, this isn't about what I want: it's about what YOU want, or didn't you know that I'm aware of your TRUE potential?" "You don't know what you're talking about," the teen retorted.

"I knew you'd have some doubts, which is why I brought something that will demonstrate my point," the business woman stated, before activating her intercom. "Bring her in." At that moment, a guard brought a sleeping teen into the room. "Kirsten?" Darth questioned, to which Python replied, "Oh, don't worry: she's just sedated. After all, we don't want things getting too cold around here."

"What are you talking about?" Darth demanded, to which the adult women replied, "Oh, that's right: you weren't there when the Khaki Barn employees took possession of the mall. Before you ask, though, I'm not aware of where Miss Wong was during the riot, other than she wasn't directly involved." "How could those jerks take control of the entire mall?" the teen boy said confused.

"Why don't you access her memories?" the business women offered. After a little hesitation, Darth reached out and touched the mall patron. Almost immediately, he felt different. Stumbling back a little, he happened to graze a pot of coffee in the room, which instantly froze solid.

"So that's how they did it," figured the boy, to which Python replied, "Yes, and I believe that we can help each other. You see, the same so-called heroes who brought you down have expanded their numbers. I wish to bring them down before they become unstoppable, which is where you come in." "I'm listening," was Darth's only reply.

* * *

><p>Unaware of this development, Jonsey was meeting up with his friends, discussing something VERY important. "Okay guys: without all that philosophical stuff, which came first: the chicken or the egg?" "Not that you haven't proposed an intriguing question," stated Wyatt, "but we should REALLY be discussing what we call ourselves when in disguise right now."<p>

"Oh, right: I was thinking of 'Flint' for myself," Jonsey remarked. "Nice: I'm calling myself 'Mystic Maiden,'" Nikki remarked, to which Jude remarked with, "Rubber Man's my name: fighting crime's my game." Catlin smirked and stated, "Bonus points with the rhyme: I'll be going by 'Alley Cat.'" "That just leaves you and me, Jen," Wyatt remarked, to which she retorted with, "Actually, you're on your own, seeing as I've decided on 'The Sprint.'" Wyatt then sighed, and stated, "Alright, fine: I guess I'll call myself…"

Just then, an explosion was heard coming from the mall entrance. "Really: the probability of that happening is…" Wyatt began, to which Jonsey interrupted with, "You're seriously doing that now? We need to see what's going on." With a sigh, Wyatt followed his teammates.

* * *

><p>When they got to the entrance, the teen heroes were a bit confused. All the damage present pointed to the former employees of the Khaki Barn, but that wasn't possible since the Clones were all in custody. Deciding to chance it, Jonsey ran up and yelled, "Okay, ladies: play times over." "You tell them, buds," StarrGargoyle Girl stated, "Night Owl will be here shortly: he's currently following a lead on the possibility of a new super."

"Good, I'll take him or her down, too, once he or she shows up," stated someone telepathically. "Alright, Chrissy: it ends now," Jude declared, to which a cloaked figure stated, "Do I look like a 'Chrissy' to you?" "Darth?" Nikki exclaimed, to which he calmly stated, "The name is 'Padawan Prince,' and you might have defeated me last time, but things have changed since then."

As if to show what he meant, he ran up and grabbed Starr by the throat. Instantly, she found herself getting weaker, losing her strength and her wings. "Let's see you stop me now," the phony Jedi declared as he began to grow wings of his own.

* * *

><p>The next few minutes could only be described as hell: in mere moments, with the exception of Jen, who avoided Darth's grasp with her super speed, the entire roster of 6teen had lost their powers to the former geek. "This is too easy," the teen terror exclaimed, "Is there no one who can challenge me?"<p>

As if on cue, a piece of rubble was thrown at the Star Wars fan. "Leave them alone, you big bully," demanded none other than Talon. "I'd stay out of this, if I were you," Darth advised, to which Talon replied, "As helpful as it sounds, I don't take orders from those on the Dark Side." "Besides, I brought him here," stated Night Owl, stepping out of the shadows.

"Night Owl: I'd take your powers, but they appear to have been bought at the hardware store," Darth said with some wit, before turning to Talon, "As much as I want to prove you wrong, you're really of no threat to me: why should I be scared of you?" "Simple: you're making me angry," was his simple reply.

Darth responded to this by shooting a massive fireball at Talon, knocking him through a nearby wall. "Now to deal with you," he stated, as he prepared another ball of fire. It was at that point that the sound of growling and clothing tearing started to fill the room.

Starr, who happened to be nearby the destroyed wall, woke up just in time to see Talon start to turn silver and grow large amount of muscle, destroying his clothing, leaving only a sliver of his shirt and what would function as a pair of shorts behind. "Well, that was unexpected," remarked the teen villain, "but no matter: I'll just absorb your power as well." As he said this, he held out his hand and stated, "Why don't you just chill for a moment?"

"Um, shouldn't something be happening?" Starr pondered out loud, to which Darth responded with, "What's going on? The bird boy's helper should be an icicle right now?" Night Owl smirked and stated, "It seems your power drain is only temporary." "I might not be at full strength, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just give up," retorted Darth, "Not even the brute that was once Talon can stop me."

As if trying to prove his point, Darth rushed over and grabbed the now enraged Talon. Instantly, the fire powers that the teen had absorbed from Jonsey were involuntarily hurting Talon, but that was the only noticeable change. "What's happening? I can't stop: it's like trying to quench the thirst of the Sahara!" exclaimed the Jedi wannabe. "Get off of me!" Talon demanded, smacking him away with his free hand.

"I don't understand: I absorb everything when I touch someone, so why does it seem that I'm unable to with this beast?" Darth pondered, to which Night Owl simply replied with, "Remember that lead I was following? It seems that Talon's strength is keyed into his anger level: the more he feels, the more powerful he gets. In other words…" "When I touched him while I'm a walking furnace, I just made him stronger," Darth said with a bit of nervousness in his voice, "which means I CAN"T absorb everything off him."

"Just give up now, and I'll let you keep some of your limbs intact," Night Owl declared, to which Darth simply chuckled. "How are you going to take me down," he began, "when you've got another crisis to break up?" As if on cue, multiple armed men burst into the room and surrounded the group. "Call off that monster, or we might have to test out these new fire arms," demanded the teen.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Night Owl asked Talon over his shoulder. "Probably not, runt: just smash!" Talon stated. As if on cue, the men unloaded their guns on the duo. Night Owl managed to dodge the barrage by grabbling upwards, but Talon wasn't so lucky, who soon fell to his hands and feet. Just when it seemed that the bullets had done their work, however, Talon straightened himself and had his wounds heal over.

"Well, you're just full of surprises," Darth declared, "but it'll take more than some fancy toys or a temper tantrum to stop us." With that, he shot a fireball into the air, severing the line the vigilante was tethered to. Pointing a gun at his head, Darth stated, "You've lost: any last words?"

As if on cue, the teen was grabbed from behind and brought face to enraged face with Talon. "Put me down, Talon," Darth demanded, to which he responded by slamming him into the ground and declaring, "Not Talon: Brute." A quick snarl shortly afterwards sent the armed men heading for the exit. One of them, however, soon found himself knocked down to the ground.

"I'm going to give you three seconds to tell me why you're socializing with a known criminal before I feed you to Brute," Night Owl demanded. "I'm not telling you anything," the henchman declared. "Three," began the teenager, to which the goon stated, "The boss will get you for this." "Two," continued the hero, causing the thug exclaim, "Okay, okay: I'll talk! Uh, I honestly don't know who put us all in contact: all of us were just hired by that kid as his back up. To be honest, though, he seemed to be working for someone else." "What 'someone else?'" Night Owl questioned, to which the ruffian (a/n: real word, by the way) responded with, "I don't know: honest. The only thing that any of us were aware of was that the kid was a little annoyed by some of the things he was discussing over the phone: something about getting tired of all the snake references. That's all I know, okay?"

"That's fine," replied the vigilante, "I already have a good idea of who it was." "Does that mean you'll let me go?" pleaded the thug, to which the teen replied with, "Maybe, but I doubt you'll be moving from that spot for a while." With that, the goon soon found himself unconscious.

Jen slowly approached her boyfriend. "Looks like we won," she said carefully. Night Owl sighed and stated, "We may have won the battle, but something tells me that the war is just starting." Unknown to him, a woman in a suit had been watching all this and smirked. "Count on it, boy," she remarked, "for no one escapes the grasp of the Python."

A/N: Intense, isn't it? Next time, we get a closer look at what happens when some animals play in the mud, or something to that degree. You'll understand when I post the next chapter. Until next time, remember that you shouldn't try any of the stuff you see in this story at home (or anywhere else, for that matter).


	5. authors note

Author's note

Some of you may have noticed that I've changed my summery a little, but in case you haven't, I'll be letting you know that there was a change of plans: i.e. there will NOT be a female Clayface paired up with an OC in my story anymore. Don't worry, though: 1) I'm NOT giving up on this story any time soon; 2) I'm still planning having a little extra help for the gang, but this time, it will be from someone who's a little bit more spectacular; 3) for those who wanted to see it happen, I guess I WILL put a female Clayface into my story, but not under the original context I had planned; and 4) there will still be an OC helping out the team, but I'm not giving out any details on him for free. Just so we're clear, though, the author's note I left you last chapter with is still legit but it won't in the context you might have thought of originally. That is all: thank you and remember that no teenagers (or adults) were harmed in the making of this fanfiction.


	6. Chapter 5: Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry I took so long with this update: let's just say that things are a bit tight back home; anyways, this chapter MIGHT have a brief cameo of one of the few "heroic" OC's I have planned for this story. Just thought I'd give you a heads up and all that; now, onto the story…

Dog-gone Identity Crisis

"Here's the file you requested, Madame," stated a man dressed in a mall security uniform, "though I must inform you that even though this holds the names of everyone who was inside the store, that doesn't necessarily mean we know the full extent of the damage from the accident." "It's no problem, Joseph," stated a woman in business clothing, "I just want to be prepared to help if there's evidence in their permanent records that could prevent any more incidents like what's been happening." "Just be aware that not everyone was near a science fair project," Joseph replied, to which the woman replied, "True, but perhaps some of the information on what was in their possession could fill in some of the blanks." "Well, so long as you're sure it will help you, Miss Talega, I'll be going now," stated Joseph.

Once he'd left, Python smirked to herself. "Such an ignorant fool; I almost feel sorry for him: ALMOST." After looking through the file for a while, she groaned to herself. "Well, THIS might certainly change things a bit, but just to be sure, I'd better test the waters," she said as she reached for her phone.

* * *

><p>As Charlie Dobbs, aka Night Owl, sat in the security room, he couldn't help but wonder why Jonesy had wanted him to take his place for a while: after all, this was one of the few times that the mall patron who was fired the most often actually TRIED to keep his job. Yet not ten minutes ago, the pyrotechnic member of 6Teen had told him that he was going on his lunch break, when he usually at his lunch in his new workspace. Well, whatever the case, it gave him time to analyze one of the two samples he had gotten off the creature that had kidnapped Nikki and Talon a while back. Actually, it was his ONLY sample for the moment: the day afterwards he was ambushed by some sort of werewolf-like creature which destroyed the vile containing it. If it wasn't for the fact that Catlin had gotten some of the mud the creature seemed to be made of on her skirt, he wouldn't have anything to work with.<p>

It was weird, though: five days had passed after the attack and nobody had seen the creatures OR their friends. Jen had recently claimed to have spotted Nikki yesterday, but when he went to check it out, she said her eyes had been playing tricks on her. He was starting to think there was a connection somewhere in all of this, especially since she was working up a bit of a sweat when he pressed her on the issue, not to mention that he inadvertently found some more mud at the site where she had called from.

Suddenly, he noticed something about the sample he was holding. Taking out a high-powered magnifying glass just to be sure, he saw that it was indeed as he thought: human DNA that seemed to be moving on its own. That meant that, in theory, who he had thought was Jen, and for that matter Jonesy, had actually been some sort of imposter!

At that moment, however, Catlin burst into the room. "Charles: our friends have been kidnapped, by US!" she exclaimed. "First off, I had just figured out this could be a possibility," the teen hero stated, "Secondly, how do I know you're REALLY Catlin?" Catlin paused, as if considering, before stating, "Come to think of it, how do I know you're REALLY Charlie Dobbs?"

Charlie sighed, "Okay, it's you: only Catlin would jump to that conclusion instead of trying to prove to me that she's who she claims to be; also, although you'll never admit this, you absolutely HATE the Twilight series." Caltin scoffs and says, "Who forces someone to choose between two hot guys?" Realizing what she just said, she gasps. "Only Jen knows I react that way to that statement," she exclaimed, to which Charles shrugged and stated, "Jen REALLY needs to work on handling interrogation, even if it's completely harmless."

"It IS you," Catlin said with a grin, before slapping him. "Tell anyone what you know and you're dead," she hissed, to which Charlie nodded and stated, "Now that we're in the clear on THAT issue, we need to find our REAL friends." "How do we do that?" Catlin asked, to which Charlie replied with a smirk.

* * *

><p>"You're telling me that you've been able to track us by our disguise collars this whole time?" Catlin exclaimed, now in her cat-form, to which Night Owl shrugged. "Not exactly: YOU were the one who truly made it possible," he admitted. Noticing his friend's confused look, he explained that he'd been trying to find a way of keeping in contact when the team's normal com-systems were down for some reason. "However, I needed the exact energy signature that they give out to make my tracker work properly, and recent events have made it next to impossible to simply ask to borrow one of the devices," the teen vigilante summarized.<p>

"What do you mean?" the feline heroine asked, to which her friend sighed. "I thought I was being paranoid at first, but it seemed too coincidental that Nikki and Talon BOTH disappeared shortly after we split up to catch that blob creature," the teenage boy explained, "Add my attack from that dog girl and you get the idea that we're dealing with more than one opponent this time." Catlin nodded, not noticing the vigilante seemed to be contemplating something else.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of trekking through the mall, they arrived at their supposed destination: a run-down clothing store that once held temporary headquarters for the mob. "I don't understand," Catlin wondered out-loud once they were inside, "I mean, I get that we're dealing with imposters here, but why would they set up shop HERE? This is too obvious a hiding place for someone needing a disguise." Night Owl frowned at that and stated, "Considering how one of our opponents can make it's own disguises at will, I'm thinking that this might possibly be…" "A trap?" came a new voice from within the shadows, "Nice to see ONE of your friends isn't a total idiot, CATLIN."<p>

"I…don't know what you're talking about," the cat girl demanded, to which a hairy figure dropped down from the rafters, snickering, "Oh, come now: you can't lie to me, OLD FRIEND." "Tricia?" Catlin exclaimed, too stunned to say anything else, to which her ex-friend gestured behind them to a blob slithering behind them and stated, "And I believe you've already met my associate, Teresa Clay, also called Madame Mold." With that, the blob reformed into a Caucasian brunette who looked a little remorseful at the situation.

"In case your wondering about your friends, their currently being stored in some specially designed containment cells I acquired," the hairy teen sneered as the lights came on to reveal the members of 6teen, along with Nebula and Talon, sedated and contained. "What do you want?" Night Owl demanded, to which Tricia smirked, "For you to stay out of my way. You see, when I discovered my powers, I KNEW I had all that I needed to send anyone I wished to the pound. Teresa here had a similar view, isn't that right, Pokey?"

"I SAID I wanted people to stop making fun of me and others who wore that costume," Teresa insisted, "I NEVER wanted things to go this far." "Oh, but how else are you ever going to get your old life back?" Tricia sneered, "Remember that it will only take one phone call for me to make sure that you can never take on human form again. Not that you can stay that way for long anyways." As if on cue, Teresa began to revert back into the form of a blob-like state.

"Say we refuse: then what?" Night Owl demanded, to which Tricia smirked, "Then I tell EVERYONE your secret identities, CHARLES." "Nobody would believe you and even if they did," he said pressing a few buttons on his suit, which caused the surrounding electronics to spark. "What did you do?" Tricia demanded, to which the vigilante declared, "Simply put, as long as we're in this store, no communications not approved by yours truly can get in or out, and the only way that will change is going to be over my dead body." "THAT can be arranged," she growled as she tackled him into the store's public area.

As soon as they left the room, Catlin made a move for the control panel. "That's not going to work," a voice called out, to which she hissed at the shape-shifter. "Why should I trust YOU?" she demanded to which Teresa morphed into a mirror image of Tricia. "The equipment she obtained is programmed to ONLY be accessed by her, or myself when I have a reason to," she deadpanned, "and I can help you out in keeping your identities a secret if the need arises." "Why would you do this?" the Cat-girl demanded, to which she smiled, "After the accident, I lost sight of who I really was: your friends gave me the chance to remember." "I promise you, Terri," Catlin said with determination, "we'll do everything in our power to return you to normal." "I know you will at least try," the blob said with a small grin.

* * *

><p>Tricia snarled as she searched the area. The vigilante had disappeared shortly after she brought the two of them out here. Part of her wanted to just run outside and contact the press, but she figured that with the resources of the Dobbs' family at the fingertips of this vigilante he could easily expand the range of his disrupter. Better to kill him now before he messes with her plans more then he already was. "I can smell your fear, Charles," she declared, "You might as well give up now."<p>

"You may have all the powers of a dog," the teen hero stated, "but I'm willing to bet you also have their WEAKNESSES." "Please, I don't know what you're…" the diva began to reply, only to stop short when the teen dropped down and threw an assortment of small colorful balls along the floor. "Must resist…the urge…to chase," she said with a shake, only for the vigilante to respond by tossing a small bell across the room. "Trying to…fight instinct," she desperately whined. "I KNOW you are, but the accident didn't just give people powers: it made us MORE of what we are," Night Owl replied, placing a steak sandwich on the ground.

With a primal yell, she grabbed the sandwich and started to wolf it down, realizing too late the possibility of a sedative being in it. "All that time setting yourself up higher then everyone else," the teen stated as she started to black out, "you never realized that nothing special comes from acting like a pure breed." The last thing she saw before passing out was mall security beginning to show up.

* * *

><p>Tricia smirked as Charlie Dobbs showed up at her cell the next day to check on the containment unit. "You sure this will hold her?" inquired one of the guards, to which the rich kid nodded. "From what Night Owl and the rest of 6teen gathered, she is basically a Labrador RetrieverHuman hybrid, and they're not exactly known for their strength," he stated, which caused the feral girl to laugh. "Still trying to cover your identity, Night Owl?" she quipped, only to be surprised by the said vigilante walking into the room. "Somebody mention my name?" he said with a smirk.

"What? This isn't possible!" she declared, "You two can't be in the same room together: Night Owl is supposed to be Charlie Dobbs!" "Make sure she gets that mental therapy I mentioned," Night Owl quipped, "and in case she's spread any OTHER absurd rumors…" With that, he handed a disk to the guard in question. "THIS should silence any claims of the identities of 6teen and/or their allies," he remarked. "I'll make sure the authorities get this," the guard stated.

Unknown to any of them, the business woman known in certain circles as "the Python" was close-by while all this was happening. "It seems I underestimated that bird of prey," she remarked, "but with a few more tests, I should get me the same results." "I'm not crazy, I tell you!" Tricia wailed, to which the crime lady sighed. "It's SO hard to get good help these days," she mused.

* * *

><p>"You never told me how you convinced Teresa to go through with helping us maintain our identities," Jen remarked a few days later. "You be surprised what people will do when you offer them help without asking for anything in return," her boyfriend said with a shrug, before tossing a frown her way and stating, "You didn't have to do this, you know." "I know," she replied as the two of them approached a set of tombstones, their friends a respectable distance away, "but I think that even in death, your family should know you intend to keep your promise." "Thank you," was all the teen could muster as he faced a trio of head stones that basically said the following: Here lies Robert, Deborah, and Angela Dobbs.<p>

* * *

><p>What the group didn't REALIZE, however, was that a good ten yards away, the criminal known as Night Terror was observing them, a young teen male sitting next to him."Uncle Jack," he stated, "I'm not feeling too good about this." "Well, tough," he chided, "I'm your only living relative and you don't have a choice in regards to obeying your legal guardian." "Even if you're right, and I'm not saying you are," the boy said with a gulp, "You wouldn't be able to fight ANY of the masked heroes since we're just a few blocks away from the police station." "Night Owl is NOT a hero, and neither is Charlie Dobbs!" his uncle suddenly yelled, "What you don't seem to REALIZE, Robert, is that the best weapon in warfare is FEAR! I KNOW his father denied me funding because he didn't TRULY support our country!"<p>

Calming himself, he stated, "Still, you DO have a point, which is why it's a good thing that I don't plan on attacking anyone just yet." "Come again?" Robert inquired, to which his uncle gave an evil smirk. "Think of this as gathering ammunition for the coming battle," he said with a chuckle, to which the criminals nephew sighed. "Forgive me, old friend," he said to himself, grateful his relative didn't hear him.

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry if the pure breed offended anyone, but given the situation, I couldn't think of a better way of showing that when you put yourself on a pedestal, it's only a matter of time before you get knocked off of it; also, the graveyard scene at the end was to show how seriously Jen is taking her new relationship; hopefully that last bit is a good indication of what will happen next chapter...


	7. Chapter 6: Chapter 11

A/N: I am EXTREMELY apologetic about the hiatus I put on this story, but I had my reasons for it. Like I had told one or two people already, I was hoping to focus on MY stories for a while, meaning that there wasn't any room in my schedule for a story created by someone else. I know that it sounds selfish, but it's a little difficult to use my creativity on something that is not my own: simply put, I needed an outlet for a short while. I hope this makes sense and that this chapter was worth the wait.

Family Matters

"Hey, has anyone seen Jude?" Jonesy inquired as the gang sat down for lunch on his first official day off, which ironically, his employers actually had to FORCE him to use. "Not sure, but he's going to be laughing his head off when he sees you here," Catlin remarked. Looking into the distance, Nikki frowned and said, "I don't think so."

Her doubt was confusing, until they saw him walking over with a pained expression and a VERY upset looking blonde man right beside him the whole time. "Is that Jude's dad?" Jen inquired, to which Wyatt sighed and stated, "This can't be good."

* * *

><p>"I've seen my son do some pretty stupid things in his time," Mr. Lizowski declared, sitting inside Ron the Rent-a-Cop's private office with 6teen and their partners in crime-fighting, as well as Coach Halder, "but deciding to be a vigilante of all things takes the cake and pretty much destroys it." "But dad, you don't understand," Jude tried to explain, to which he was interrupted with, "I understand just fine: you think that because the accident your delinquent friend over there caused gave you powers or something that you can get away with making a mockery of my line of work."<p>

Looking at the mall cop and store clerk, he stated, "You DO know that as chief of police, I have the right to put ALL of you away for good." "And then what?" Charles declared. "I beg your pardon?" Jude's dad inquired. "I said, 'And then what?' Do you really think some of the criminals you've obviously have seen by now could be handled by the usual standards?" Charles calmly stated.

Mr. Lizowski was silent for a moment, as if he didn't know the answer, which he probably didn't. Finally, he spoke: "What do YOU know about keeping people safe? Your family works with guns on a daily basis." At this, Ron slammed his hand on the table in front of him. "THIS is why I decided to pursue criminals in just one part of the city," he declared, "You're willing to toss everyone who has a single drop of blood on their hands and leave them there. I always thought that police were there to HELP people."

"Don't talk to ME that way," Mr. Lizowski demanded, "YOU don't have your son running around in spandex; YOU don't have any kids at all!" "No I don't," Ron admitted, "My wife has a condition that wouldn't allow for that and I have yet to convince her to consider adopting any, but I DO know that there's more to being a child's guardian then the child living under your roof."

Before Mr. Lizowski could reply however, Ron's radio went off. "Ron, what's your 20?" came a panicked voice. "I'm currently discussing something with the father of Hang 10," he stated into the radio, "Something wrong?" "You bet there is: two people in costume are attacking the Gigantoplex with chemical weapons! Night Terror is back!" the voice declared, "Repeat: Night Terror is…no wait, don't do it! AAH!"

"Samson? Samson, are you there!?" Ron screamed into the radio. "I'm sorry," replied a dark voice, "Samson can't come to the phone right now: may I take a message?" Grabbing radio from Ron's hand, Mr. Lizowski declared, "This is Franklin Lizowski, head of the Whitefork police: hope you've enjoyed the outside world, because you'll soon be occupying a jail cell again." Chuckling, the criminal known as Night Terror declared, "No I won't, because if I'm in jail, who will look after my nephew?"

"What are you talking about?" the mall cop demanded, to which the evil chemist did a mock gasp. "Oh, did you hear that, Fear Monger? They don't seem to recall the unfortunate death of the Clinton's a few years back," he said with a chuckle, to which a younger voice declared, "My name is ROBERT, and I don't think that…" "You will help me, my nephew, if you want to stay out of the foster care system OR if you ever want to see your friends alive again," the criminal was heard saying, before he was heard chuckling.

"Ironic how my idiot brother-in-law and his wife once wanted their son as far away from me as possible but I end up being the only relative available to put a roof over his head," he declared, "Oh, and before you get any ideas, I've hooked up a few canisters of my fear gas to the air conditioning units and I WILL release it if I don't see the bird boy and any of his little costumed helpers here in 10 minutes, starting now: it's time we had a rematch."

"We need to go now," Charles deadpanned, only for Mr. Lizowski to state, "No you don't: Night Terror and this 'Fear Monger' are being taken in by professional law enforcers." Standing up, the teenage vigilante declared, "Professional BULLIES, you mean: ROBERT would never want any part in what his uncle's got planned."

Scoffing, Mr. Lizowski declared, "Please: what would YOU know about that despicable criminal?" "That 'despicable criminal' is the son of some of your idols, DAD!" Jude suddenly exclaimed, "Or did you forget about how devastated you were to hear that 'Judo Joe' and 'Martial Mary' had been killed during a riot control accident four years ago?"

"Wait: you mean the undercover cops Joseph and Maria?" Frank inquired with a look of pure shock on his face. "Not only was there son a close friend of Charlie Dobbs, but they were the ones who introduced you to Mom, if I remember correctly," Jude deadpanned, "In fact, THEY were the ones who inspired me to use my new powers like this, seeing as how I looked up to them. I mean, how could I not? THEY were the reason I was even born!"

"That's enough, dude," Jonesy stated, a hand on his friends shoulder, "We've got bigger problems." "He's right," Nikki declared, looking at her watch, "We just wasted 5 minutes!" "Then we don't have any time to waste," Charles declared, everyone around him nodding. The group chose this time to exit the room to go change, Jude leaving without even looking at his father.

However, before Charles, who was the last person out, closed the door behind him, he turned to look at Jude's father. "My family might work with guns and armor, but they also have made more than their fair contribution to the medical field. After all, there's a person receiving our products, something you seem to have forgotten." Had Charles looked back ten seconds later, he would have noticed the downcast look on the man's face.

* * *

><p>"Come out and play, 6teen," Night Terror proclaimed, reveling at the scene before him, unlike his nephew. "Stop it, Uncle Jack!" he pleaded, gesturing to the dozens of mall patrons, who had been exposed to the gas prematurely to try and hurry things along, that were in a panic and some of which that were probably dead or close to it, "This isn't right!" "Yes, it seems that I might have miscalculated on how much gas I needed," his uncle declared, "There should be WAY more casualties by now."<p>

"No, I meant that there's no way on earth that this is legal," Robert Clinton clarified, to which his uncle scoffed. "One day you'll learn that in order to achieve your goals you sometimes have to do things that aren't so nice," he declared. "You mean like this?" quipped someone from behind him. Before he could react however, he found himself being rammed into by none other than Night Owl.

"Ah, my old enemy," the rogue scientist said with a grin, "I don't suppose you brought the monster or the young lady with the wings with you?" "BRUTE is currently undergoing some tests to help him better control his abilities," the bird-themed crime fighter stated, "And GARGOYLE GIRL is currently sick with the flu, so she couldn't make it." Taking a fighting stance, Night Owl declared, "But that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."

"As much as I would LOVE to have you die by my hand," the chemist said with an evil look in his eyes, "I've got other plans." Tossing a canister at Night Owl's feet, the vigilante in question was doused with a large amount of fear gas. Seeing their chance, the members of 6teen, now wearing gas masks, dived in after the criminal.

* * *

><p>During the next five minutes, to say Night Terror was having a bad day would be an understatement, as he was wounded to the point that only his high levels of adrenaline was keeping him awake. "You are worthy opponents," he quipped, "but as long as I have my remote, I can still…" It was at THAT moment that he was suddenly cut off by someone pulling him through a display case window by none other than… "Night Owl!? This isn't possible: how did my gas not affect you?" the criminal demanded. "Who said it didn't?" Night Owl replied with a growl, "It's just that I'm already an expert at facing my fears."<p>

Going to his com-system, he stated, "I'm in position." At this, the air conditioning systems all over the mall kicked on, administering an antidote to the fear gas. "You haven't won yet," Night Terror quipped, reaching for his remote, only to realize that it wasn't there. Hearing a crunch, he looked in shock to see Robert Clinton, no longer in his costume, with his foot on top of some pieces of hardware alongside the city police. "Thanks for the assistance, Chief," he directed at Mr. Lizowski, who simply stated, "Anything for a family friend."

* * *

><p>"How could you do this?" Night Terror demanded before being taken away. "Sometimes for the greater good, you have to do things that aren't so nice," was all his nephew replied with as he wore a look of pure hatred. "Will he be okay?" inquired Ron the Rent-a-cop to his old friend, to which Frank Lizowski sighed. "For the first time in a long while, I don't know," he admitted, before smirking in the mall cop's direction and stated, "Which is why I pulled some strings and put you in charge of his care and rehabilitation."<p>

With a knowing look, he nodded and stated, "Listen, about our earlier conversation…" "Stop right there," Mr. Lizowski demanded, "I'll admit that my son's done some things I'm not proud of, but if he's doing something to make up for past mistakes, then who am I to stop him?" With a wink, the police chief left, not failing to notice the smile from seven costumed teens in the background.

A/N: Just for the record, I found that Jude's dad DOES in fact spy on his child; no idea what the next chapter will entail just yet, but I THINK it will have something to do with a crazy clown and/or something spectacular (though this is subject to change). Until next time...


End file.
